“OUR HIGHEST ENDEAVOR MUST BE TO DEVELOP FREE HUMAN BEINGS WHO ARE ABLE OF THEMSELVES TO IMPART PURPOSE AND DIRECTION IN THEIR LIVES. THE NEED FOR IMAGINATION, A SENSE OF TRUTH AND A FEELING OF RESPONSIBILITY – THESE THREE FORCES ARE THE VERY NERVE OF EDUCATION.” – RUDOLF STEINER

HIGH SCHOOL OVERVIEW

In the High School, our main lesson blocks are the heart of the curriculum, where one main subject is focused on for three to four weeks at a time for two hours daily. The rest of the day is filled with specialty subjects where students are immersed in courses such as math, music, language, chorus, movement and art.

Sciences are primarily taught in the laboratory and in the field, where observation and experimentation with the phenomena are the basis for the development of the laws and theories that modern scientists use to make sense of their observations.

In the humanities and social sciences, students are taught using primary source materials: the original versions of the great works of literature, and original historical documents.

Writing is an important part of the curriculum in all subject areas as students keep notes, laboratory records and journals of their observations and use them to write reports, essays and poetry.

Work in the arts supports the academic curriculum by developing the capacity to solve problems creatively.

Through the creative arts we aim to help students cultivate imaginative thinking, perseverance, and attention to detail. Practicing the performing arts develops self-discipline, focus, and the ability to work effectively in a group. Through these means we strive to attain the goal set forth by Rudolf Steiner in 1919 at the founding of the first Waldorf school: “Our highest endeavor must be to develop free human beings, who are able of themselves to impart purpose and direction to their lives.”

CURRICULUM OVERVIEW

The curriculum at the Cincinnati Waldorf High School is based on the knowledge that learning is not only an intellectual exercise but a process that engages a child’s empathy and initiative. High School students here develop moral, intellectual and aesthetic capacities through focused inquiry seminar-style classes taught by specialists. Students become Renaissance thinkers with keen powers of observation, preparing them for college and beyond.

NINTH GRADE

Ninth Grade students are far more interested in contemporary issues than in the more remote past; the curriculum focuses on broad 20th/21st-century issues. Students read works of modern literature. Modern history is now taught less biographically and more theoretically. In the science blocks, ninth-graders study many practical applications of technology. The math curriculum includes an introduction to statistics, permutations and combinations, and conic sections.

TENTH GRADE

As the high school student matures, it becomes more difficult to generalize about their inner experience. In chemistry, Tenth Grade students study acids and bases, and the formation of salts. A major emphasis of the physics block is the study of structures in which opposing forces exist in equilibrium. Students also study moving bodies in which the forces are not in equilibrium. The history and English blocks explore the mythological consciousness of ancient and indigenous cultures. The English curriculum then moves on to cover the history of epic and lyric poetry, in which the students can observe the gradual emergence of individual styles. In the spring, they write their own poetry.

Curriculum:

Math: Trigonometry, Sequence, Series and Spirals, Geometry or Algebra ll

ELEVENTH GRADE

In the Eleventh Grade, the focus of the science blocks is twentieth-century developments made possible by the scientific revolution. Cell biology, study of the periodic table, and atomic theory take center stage. The history of science also plays a role within the English and history blocks. The Galilean/Cartesian distinction between primary and secondary qualities is studied as both a key tenet of the scientific revolution and a profound symptom of modern divided consciousness. The English curriculum covers classic texts such as: The Divine Comedy, Parzival, and several plays by Shakespeare. The emergence of Europe out of Roman antiquity is presented in the history blocks.

TWELFTH GRADE

Twelfth Grade students study zoology, ecology, biochemistry, optics, economics and civics. As part of the zoology block, they spend one week on the coast of Maine studying invertebrates. An architect teaches the history of architecture in preparation for a study tour to Italy. In English, the students read Goethe’s Faust, excerpts from Moby Dick, The Scarlet Letter, selected writings of Emerson and Thoreau and several novels. Russian literature can be chosen as an elective. The culmination of the senior year is the performance of a senior play.